Description: Slide Mountain is the highest mountain in the Catskills.
From the summit of Slide you can see 33 of the other 34 high peaks. Only
Thomas Cole, which is behind Hunter, is not visible. The climb from the
west via the yellow trail from Slide Mountain Road and the red-blazed Slide
Mountain Trail is one of the easier climbs in the Catskills.

Log Steps up North Face of Slide Mountain

The climb from
the east is one of the most challenging in the Catskills, as the red-blazed
Slide Mountain Trail climbs over 3000 feet from Woodland Valley, passing
over the summits of Wittenberg Mountain and
Cornell Mountain.

Red tape: A parking fee is charged at the trail head
parking area at Woodland Valley State Campground during the campgrounds
camping season.

Another approach is the Curtis -
Ormsbee Trail. Just below the summit view ledge
is a plaque memorializing John Burroughs.

Slide Mtn Wilderness Map (opens in new window)

Naming of Slide

Slide's name is owed to a land slide that occurred sometime in the 1820s
or 1830s.

Past Lean-tos on Slide

The summit was home to two lean-tos. The first built in 1927 and the
second constructed sometime after 1954. Both were removed after 1975 when
the state introduced a regulation prohibiting camping above 3,500' (except
in winter). See state
camping guidelines

Past Towers on Slide

First
Tower on Slide Mountain

A wooden tower was constructed in 1880 by James Dutcher a local guide who
would take parties from his Panther Mountain House on tours of Slide up a
personally constructed trail which became known as the Dutcher Steps Trail.

A second wooden tower was constructed by the state in 1911 with an
observers cabin it was only in service for a year. Finally the state constructed a
metal tower possibly in 1936 which was dismantled in 1968. The footing can
still be see today.